Horse News

Wild Horse Freedom Federation Joins Fight to Save Historic Wild Horse Herd from Extinction, Again

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Wild-Horse-Freedom-FederationPO Box 390, Pinehurst Texas 77362

For Immediate Release: August 24, 2015

Wild Horse Freedom Federation Partners with The Cloud Foundation to Block BLM’s Plan to Zero Out Colorado’s Unique West Douglas Herd

Pinehurst, TX – Since 2010 wild equine advocacy groups Wild Horse Freedom Federation (WHFF) and The Cloud Foundation (TCF) have consistently worked together in a unified effort to thwart the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) attempts to totally remove Colorado’s West Douglas herd from their rightful range for the exclusive benefit of “Welfare” ranchers and special interest groups.

Although this legal battle has been ongoing for almost 20 years the BLM has, as of late, accelerated their efforts to destroy this federally protected, historic herd so that private cattle owners and extraction interests can declare the public land to be their own.

Citing that the wild horses are damaging the range due to over grazing the BLM has failed to acknowledge that the number of horses pale compared to the sizable herd of private, “welfare” cattle that are allowed to graze on the public land for the bulk of the year at mere pennies a day.

“Using the BLM’s own statistics, the wild horses are out numbered by a minimum of 4 to 1 by the welfare cattle allowed to graze on the horse’s range.” states R.T. Fitch, President and cofounder of WHFF, “The concept of the Federal Government destroying this herd to line the pockets of a few of their bedfellows ought to spark outrage in each and every American’s heart and soul. Enough is enough and we are making a stand.”

Renowned equine photographer and Director of Field Documentation for WHFF, Carol Walker agrees; “The BLM must not be allowed to zero out this herd simply because it is ‘inconvenient’ to manage, or because it is pandering to cattle ranchers and extraction companies. This would set a very damaging precedent for our few remaining wild horses and burros.”

The BLM intends to commence with their removal operation next month.

Links of interest:

History of WHFF’s legal Battle with BLM for West Douglas Horses
https://rtfitchauthor.com/?s=West+Douglas&submit=Search

BLM Press Release
http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/white_river_field/wild_horse_documents.Par.18152.File.dat/Press%20Release%20WRFO%20Gather%207.29.15.pdf

West Douglas Herd Area Final EA
http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/white_river_field/wild_horse_documents.Par.92698.File.dat/Final%20EA%20WDHA%2020150023_7.27.15_withappendices.pdf

Wild Horse Freedom Federation
http://www.wildhorsefreedomfederation.org

Contact:

R.T. Fitch
Wild Horse Freedom Federation
1-800-974-3684

Wild Horse Freedom Federation (WHFF) is a registered, Texas non-profit corporation with 501c(3) status in all 50 states. WHFF puts people between America’s wild equids and extinction through targeted litigation against governmental agencies whose documented agendas include the eradication of wild horse and burros from public, federal and state lands. WHFF is funded exclusively through the generosity of the American public.

Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs

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36 replies »

  1. The BLM is directed to protect the wild horses and burros “in a manner that is designed to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands” and “protect the natural ecological balance of all wildlife species which inhabit such lands, particularly endangered wildlife species. Any adjustments in forage allocations on any such lands shall take into consideration the needs of other wildlife species which inhabit such lands.” 16 U.S.C. §1333(a).

    No excess wild horses exist in the West Douglas Herd Area. The BLM’s own NEPA documents make clear that human development (intensive oil drilling activity) and livestock grazing – NOT wild horse overpopulation – threatens the Thriving Natural Ecological Balance in this area.

    Protecting the ecological balance of all wildlife has never meant rounding up and removing whole species – especially when there is a law that explicitly protects their right to exist in historic herd areas. The WFRHBA authorizes only limited interference with wild horses and burros in herd areas where they were living in 1971.

    BLM is not really interested in range conditions. No one believes the wild horses and burros are being removed because of range conditions or lack of water. The BLM has been trying to “zero out” (eliminate all wild horses from) the West Douglas HA for years and the agency makes it clear that energy development/oil drilling in the area and the desire to continue to allocate forage for livestock grazing are the reasons behind the agency’s desire to eliminate these horses.

    It would be anomalous to infer that by authorizing the custodian of the wild free roaming horses and burros to “manage” them, Congress intended to permit the animals’ custodian to subvert the primary policy of the statute by capturing and removing from the wild the very animals that CONGRESS SOUGHT TO PROTECT from being captured and removed from the wild.

    (Above from misc documents and collected information and personal thoughts)

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  4. Recent news I’ve been hearing points to people recognizing the returns to the public for mineral leases (especially coal) are so low they represent a substantial subsidy. Does this sound similar to the grazing AUM fees, which are still less than 10% of fair market value in most instances.

    Also in the news, the decline in the Oil & Gas industry, one of the largest players in leasing public lands.

    Given that lessees do not pay market rates (are subsidized) and these industries are in decline, what is the hurry to exterminate protected wild horses? The cattle market is strong but a few hundred horses would seem to pose little threat if they are in their designated legal areas.

    The Sagegrouse argument also seems to be a straw man; these species evolved together in these environments. The invasive species are cattle, sheep, and humans. It seems a fools’ errand to try to achieve a “thriving natural ecological balance” when favoring invasive species and extractive industries at the expense of native species.

    Colorado in particular has only a few wild horse herds. The impetus to exterminate them makes no sense, or cents.

    Colorado Northwestern Community College is in Rangely, CO, and extends its services to Craig, CO. Craig markets itself partly on wild horse tourism since they are near the Sand Wash herd. I suggest we all contact the college and get students informed about the West Douglas Herd and pending elimination. Here’s one link: I think classes are about to begin:

    http://www.cncc.edu/about-cncc/

    http://www.gloucestercitynews.net/clearysnotebook/2015/08/arguing-for-fair-return-on-taxpayer-coal.html

    http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/shortchanged-are-coal-companies-paying-fair-market-value-for-leases-on-public-lands

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    • Icyspots—it is like someone(an idiot somewhere) gets a stupid idea and everyone acts to get it done, no research, no thought, no data, no idea of consequences, just what is in it for ME. I just have to shake my head some days at the stupidity of these people, and yet they carry on and no one is stopping them.

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      • GG, I agree, and wonder why there are so few (if any) consequences or penalties. When even a mere advisory panel slot dedicated for an Advocate bars any advocate from taking that seat this surely indicates the system is broken.

        The only ones losing seem to be the innocent, at every turn. Well, that and unwilling taxpayers funding these follies.

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  5. so, WHO exactly IS it now~ in Congress and Senate, on. the RIGHT committees, holding the face-cards, who is NOT afraid to ask the questions and demand answers?? from these rogue Agencies which are created as being under their DIRECT Oversight? (since the last upheaval – I can’t remember Who landed where). there MUST be someOne(s) in the correct positions of power, Aware of citizens and the LAW and unafraid to tackle their own jobs?? As you said- BLM has, as of late, accelerated* their efforts to destroy this federally protected, historic herd so that private cattle owners and extraction interests can declare the public land to be their Own.’ ~ to WHOM can we directly* appeal for the sake of these federally*protected beings? During these past few years, I’ve come to realize (more and more) how MUCH our Senator Robert Byrd ~ actually DID for our wild Horses, and wilderness, and the entire Constitutional* balance! What a HUGE loss his death truly IS! In 2007 (I think) HE personally intervened at Sheldon* on MY behalf (and many of Yours, too) ~ but I absolutely KNEW he DID what he promised, because he CC’d the 4-5 official correspondences between himself and F&W and BLM ~to ME, as well (and he was an amazing wordsmith!!). Also our Congressman Rahall had remained a good supporter, until uprooted by a tea-party NObody in the last round of the circus. (Now our reps have no positions to be HEARD, even if they Do see the importance! ) I am sure there are several other representatives from around the U.S, who HAD both power and ‘balls’ ~ we can feel the VACUUM of that Power-loss increasing daily. But aren’t there a ‘few Good’ guys and gals out there (who are not on the Bottom-rung) that do care* and listen*?? What about Jim Moran, Raúl Grijalva, Mary landrieu, etc? Do they have position* and time to bypass committee deadends and intervene directly? As Barbara said, (paraphrasing) it is more than Obvious that the INTENT of the law – was certainly NOT what-is-happening out there! Surely one of you suspect a backdoor into which WE and the Horses can gain a foot-in (or hoof)? ? I’ve become so ashamed* of my own country, and it just gets WORSE each day 😦 there is NO such thing as JUSTICE here anymore (speaking about many major issues that have personally Smacked me In-the-Face, without recourse ~ in addition to our wild equines and habitats) 😦 ~sorry for the rant~

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    • Here’s a thought about who could make a difference: get President Obama AND Pope Francis to visit, say, the incarcerated horses at Palomino Valley, then go see some living free (while there still are any). The President can do a lot of things as he ends his Presidency which would otherwise be risky. The Pope has recently inspired us all with his plea for sharing our world with our fellow creatures with more enlightened humanity. They will meet next month in Philadelphia… how can we get them to take a side trip west? RT, Ginger, Simone, anyone? How can we make this happen? Even a flyover would be beneficial as they would gain understanding of what surely is an obscure problem in the minds of each of them.

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  6. Thank you for your amazing work for yet another beautiful historic herd in peril! We stand with you like you stand with us. Every herd is special and unique and historic, as we are down to the last of them. Together we will change the course of history, we have to believe it, envision it and know it. Each American citizen plays a part in that. The Public is the biggest stakeholder on our public lands. “History is only made, by those who care about the future.” Simone

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    • Simone, your comments prompted this thought. We are all tangled up parsing out what defines “wild” and each of us could probably answer differently, as does our Government. There is a parallel, though, in looking at how we define “American” citizenship. History tells us the indigenous peoples here are the first citizens of this land, which later became named America (after an Italian explorer, of all things). The rest of us all point to ancestry elsewhere just a few generations back, so by any argument the wild horses are at LEAST as American as any of us with non-indigenous roots are.

      Imagine for a moment indigenous people ran our Government and were allowed to determine who had a right to exist here and who did not. It’s easy to see they would legitimately claim most of us were dropped on these shores from other countries and fit the legal definition of invasive species. If we were lucky some would be allowed into fenced neighborhoods and people with badges would come around periodically to make sure the women were taking their birth control pills, or darting them to make sure they would not reproduce. Some would be removed and disappeared without protest since they were eating and surviving in the straightened circumstances demanded of them, against their nature. Other groups, isolated from them, would have no knowledge of what was happening.

      We would all find this a horrible situation, I think. But it matches precisely what the wild horses and burros are facing.

      If we define “American” as anyone born here, and thereby automatically grant them citizenship, we can and should do no less for the wildlings that were here long before we were.

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    • Yes, if this were true, how would these birds have been able to survive alongside these wild horses for all this time? The birds would’ve been gone long ago. More seemingly skewed “science.”

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  8. This is an older article and it doesn’t give the date written.
    There is now a different Secretary of the Department of Interior
    AND more of America’s FEDERALLY PROTECTED Wild Horses & Burros have disappeared from Public Lands:

    The Big Story (excerpts)
    The Deadly Gathers of BLM
    By Steven Long
    https://wildhorseinvestigationteam.wordpress.com/blm-secret-plan-to-destroy-wild-horses/

    HOUSTON, (Horseback) –-The Bureau of Land Management’s concerted effort to thin the herds of wild horses on land it manages has proven deadly, so deadly in fact, that for each of the last two years (and this year’s not over yet) there have been fatalities on almost half of the “gathers” the agency has conducted.

    In 2008, 45 percent of the roundups resulted in at least one fatality, and on one in Nevada, 27 horses died. The total number of deaths through injury or for other reasons totaled 126 animals last year.

    The percentage of dead horses on BLM roundups this year is slightly worse at 46 percent resulting in at least one horse death. In July, a Wyoming gather proved fatal to 11 horses. To date this year, 79 horses have died as the agency rushes to clear wild horses from the West.

    Experts have told Horseback Magazine that the massive roundups are leaving the western wild horse herds genetically bankrupt. . And chemical sterilization is taking its toll as well, they say.

    In BLM roundups, horses are often driven down miles of rocky slopes by a roaring helicopter. Such was the case in Wyoming this year when 11 horses died at Coconut Creek. A total of 349 horses were caught in that gather.

    Although helicopter induced stampedes result in fatalities, the agency is reluctant to classify a limping horse as injured.

    The bureau classifies equine deaths two ways, according to national spokesman Tom Gorey of the agency’s Washington office.

    It classifies horse deaths directly related to a gather as “the number of animals that died or were euthanized because of acute injuries or medical conditions brought about by the gather and removal process, including those that occurred during capture, sorting, and herding at the gather site. This category includes all animals euthanized for reasons related to gather activities.”

    Translated from bureaucratese, these horses would not have died had they been left alone in their natural habitat.

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  9. GAO Report 1990

    Click to access 149472.pdf

    We do not agree with BLM’s position that our statement reveals a misunderstanding about how BLM develops its appropriate management levels, We understand that wild horse levels are prepared as part of the land use planning process mandated by FLFNA. However, we do not believe that a level can be justified as representing a sound management decision merely because it is recorded in a land use plan. If a level is developed without regard to land conditions or wild horse range impact, its inclusion in the land use plan does not make it more useful or appropriate. In this connection, BLM provides no evidence to refute our finding (along with the finding of Interior’s Board of Land Appeals) that wild horse levels are being established arbitrarily without a sound factual basis.

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  11. “Throughout the duration of the fire, BLM teams were monitoring the condition and whereabouts of the horses,” said Jenifer Arnold, acting Boise district manager.

    If this were true, one has to wonder how 29 horses burned to death.

    One also has to hope they will monitor the condition and whereabouts of those removed a bit more carefully, and make that information public so we can be sure those animals are returned to their rightful range. One also wonders why they can’t be fed via air drops of hay through the winter (as is done with Elk) rather than pursue expensive roundups and the subsequent stress of confinement and potential injury and death from contagious diseases, or the mystery illness as yet not made public about the 90 or so horses who died in Scott City KS holding last year.

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    • Let’s just look at the financial part. We can easily figure the cost to capture and remove (not even counting the long term care) each horse at about $1000 each. This capture will be an easy quarter of a million $ for the contractor. Now, let’s compare that to a few truckloads of hay given to the wild horses for the next couple of months until the grass starts to regrow – not to mention the fire burned in an island pattern which is typical and which will help to reseed the range naturally. I’m not sure what hay costs these days but you can bet your bottom dollar that the cost to feed the horses on their own land would be a pittance compared to what we will pay the contractor – not to mention the well being of the animals.

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      • GG, hay prices are low in Colorado, and were last year, too, enough that some folks didn’t even bother baling it since the market was poor. This may change with all the fires but for now the prices are about half what they were a few years ago, and fuel prices are less as well.

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  12. With All the stir after Sarge and the BLM and all the stories coming out of the West trying to yield proslaughter a foothold I want to know whats really going on with the Wild Horses. Proslaughters making a horse movie in an attempt to sway peoples opinions. We have to counter this. Please someone tell me what what IS going on out there. Where are we on the SAFE ACT now? Is there another Valley Meats lawsuit? Is there a reason to worry? Im fighting to keep abusers out and families with horses together. Were making changes in Laws. Illinois is leading in Animal Welfare and we are Rising. Wheres every other State? Whats the Real Wild Horse status now? We need to know. If theres some blunt truth to the idiot side of proslaughter and ? The wild horses I want to know. Why? Because I am fighting for the horses. i am not an activists I am a trainer and I am busting my hump making Sure changes happen anywhere I can. I wanna know what we are expecting with the horses and the truth. Are horses starved or thirsty? I WANT TO DEBUNK THEIR LIES….BUT I REQUIRE FACTS FROM WILD HORSE PEOPLE. I know people in Illinois who are caught in the middle of whether to help or not.

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    • Colt, there are others with far more knowledge than I here but I can point out the only instances I am aware of documenting wild horses suffering from malnutrition or water deprivation have occurred at the hands of the BLM. Specifically, the deaths of ~ 90 (at least) horses in a Scott City KS feedlot last year (for which there is still no official explanation tied to necropsies), legal horse areas being consistently reduced in size by fencing (meaning less food for naturally reproducing populations) and photographic evidence of dead horses at fenced off traditional waterholes. Fenced off to favor other species with full knowledge this would adversely impact wild horses. In the west, water is life.

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      • Thanks. I am pounding out a wide path to get people on board to Save Our Wild Horses from Illinois and Central and Eastern States. I need to v e certain of everything I say goibg forward as Horses in Crisis video by pro slaughter and Borba clips of horses in a bad are passed around. They are making a Hollywood film by proslaughter to influence the public to slaughter wild horses and give lands to ranchers (basically) ). We need to get Redford and Willie Nelson and others together and do a Protect the Horses Movie Hollywood style. No more documentaries. We need a true savings horses story in theaters. We have to inspire people to care more. We have combat the proslaughter nuts agenda with more than facts and data. We need to personally move people emotionally and appeal to their sensibilities. Proslaughter keeps posting pics of a group of malnurished horses and claiming all Mustangs are dying. Please we have to up the anti and work on something motivational. They are riling people up against Advocates really horribly. We have to step in and repair this. As well the fight your in just changed and if you change your relationship with the horse industry you wont get people moving forward to save horses. They have morphed all pro slaughter websites and facebooks to talk animal welfare. You and I know its a scheme. Please lets invite people to help with some emotional connection because just the facts are not enough anymore. Im out with horse owners constantly and the vibe is changing. We have to work harder. Please lets work against the corruption with more inviting stories to get the public involved in Saving the horses. The issues between Laura Leigh and proslaughter Have to be publicly addressed without anger or posturing. The issues there need publicly resolved New pics of horses that proslaughter shows as skinny need to be posted to show they are healthier than proslaughter claims. I know theres dissention amoung some Advocates. Suck it up…put all differences behind us. Quit bad mouthing politicians who are now assisting us and lets move forward together despite differences. That goes for Animal Rights and horse owners as well. WE cannot be divided by the Aqha or carriages or skinny horses. We cannot be divided by beliefs. This is not the time. We have to Unite. LETS SUCK IT…WORK TOGETHER AND LETS SAVE THESE D@#N HORSES!

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    • WoW! somehow getting Pope Francis to visit, is a GIGANTIC great idea!!! now HOW-TO do it…… ? perhaps sending photos of those innocent sad hopeless FACES reaching through the fences to your heart ~ and a few brief descriptions and stories!? but how does one get anything directly TO him….(I’m not Catholic ; but I have developed great respect for this man. ). Ideas?

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      • I am thinking 50,000 posters of horse faces in a flash mob/photo op would be a great start. I had a friend years ago who found a sea of people holding up xeroxes of his own face taped on sticks when he turned on the lights. It was hilarious – and easy to do. Wonder if we could get a crowd in PA to show up and flash posters of different incarcerated horses while in the audience of the Pope and the President. Would be a magnificent statement. I would send a few bucks for photocopies if anyone there can take this and run with it. Maybe a crowdsource effort? Anyone?

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      • Hmmm. It works for me. Maybe try another browser, (Safari, Chrome, Firefox etc. ) sometimes one will work when others won’t.

        By my calculations they mention 300 total horses in three HMAs (nice round number, that) and intend to put up around 100 for adoption, so this is an immediate 30% herd reduction on top of those lost in the fire (35, which is another 11.6% loss). So that represents a 41-42% herd reduction just related to the fire and excludes any removals from earlier bait trapping as GG described elsewhere.

        http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2015/08/27/wild-horses-rounded-up-soda-fire/71276104/

        Here’s the text in its entirety just in case:

        Wild horses rounded up in emergency gather after Soda Fire
        Emily Valla, KTVB 2:22 p.m. MDT August 27, 2015

        OWYHEE COUNTY, Idaho — Just over two weeks ago, the Soda Fire sparked and quickly grew to more than 283,000 acres. The massive wildfire devastated habitat for a number of wildlife species throughout Owyhee County, and it tore through three Wild Horse Herd Management Areas.

        These HMA’s, as the Bureau of Land Management calls them, are thousands of acres each. Sands Basin is the smallest of the three and maintains about 70 horses. Hardtrigger HMA has 150 horses and 80 horses call the Black Mountain HMA home. Sands Basin and Hardtrigger are both considered 100 percent burned in the Soda Fire. Just small islands of unburned land remain and that’s where the horses have grouped.

        Those islands, though, won’t support the herds through the winter. Too much forage has burned. So, the BLM decided to move all of the horses away from Sands Basin and Hardtrigger, and about a third of the horses at Black Mountain. The emergency horse gather began Thursday in the Sands Basin HMA.

        Just after sunrise, a helicopter buzzed over an unburned island of land about one square mile in size. Dozens of wild horses started to trot, as the helicopter herded them towards what BLM officials call a “trap.”

        “The wings of the trap are sort of set up like a funnel, so when they come in to the wings of the trap they go into the corral. We then sort them and they are transported to the Boise Wild Horse Corrals,” said Heather Tiel-Nelson, public affairs specialist for the BLM.

        A veterinarian will check out each horse. The fire and aftermath killed 35 horses, and officials hope they won’t lose more.

        “These horses have been through a lot. The Soda Fire that came through here really stressed the horses, the lack of forage, the fire suppression activity also can play a role in stressing out the horses,” said Jason Lutterman, public affairs specialist for the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

        The gather got off to a seemingly great start. A large group of horses trotted right up to the trap, but then they kept on going right past it.

        “These Sands Basin horses are really, really smart. They’ve been captured before and so they are smart to the trap location,” said Tiel-Nelson.

        After a few attempts, the BLM decided it was time to move the trap. With so much land charred, they didn’t have a lot of options. Lutterman explained they try to get the traps as close to the horses as possible, and that limited them to the unburned basin.

        Crews want to make the gather as easy as possible on the horses.

        “It’s a pressure and release. That pilot is really good at being able to understand when to apply more pressure to keep those horses pointed in the right direction, and when to release that pressure when they are just gently bringing themselves towards the trap,” said Tiel-Nelson.

        It’s a process that can take several hours, and the BLM will take as much time as needed. The Sands Basin gather is scheduled to be finished Thursday, but Hardtrigger and Black Mountain are bigger areas. There will be several trap locations, and the process could take multiple days.

        The horses will all go to the Boise Wild Horse Corrals. Some will then go to larger corrals in Nevada, and some will eventually be returned to their HMA. The land can take several years to recover to the point of supporting a full herd. About 100 of the horses will be made available to adopt.

        The BLM will host public tours to observe the horses at the corrals starting Monday, Aug. 31. Tours will run each week day from 1-2 p.m.

        Directions to the Boise Wild Horse Corrals: From Interstate 84, exit on Orchard Street (Exit 52) and go south for approximately 1.7 miles, which turns into West Gowen Road. Continue for 0.5 mile. Turn right (south) on Pleasant Valley Road and go approximately 4 miles. Turn right at the “Wild Horse Corrals.”

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  16. Just to keep in mind … none of these three HMAs even have a genetically viable AML to start with.
    HardTrigger 66-130
    Sands Basin 33-64
    Black Mt. 30-60
    And to top it off the population per BLM as of 3/1/2015 was said to be (keep in mind that with the exception of a few HMAs which are closely monitored by the public – like the Pryor population – the BLM published population is generally approximately doubled which assists the local districts to get more funding):
    HardTrigger 143
    Sands Basin 53
    Black Mt. 80
    A total of only 276 total plus any surviving foals from this year minus the 35 killed.

    So by removing almost all of what is left of these wild horses and burning the sage grouse birds and the habitat of both of these species and then having the taxpayer pay for new livestock fences and additional livestock disaster subsidies for the welfare ranchers, this has been a monetarily “wonderful” fire. And how convenient that they expanded the Soda fire with aerial napalm-like bombing and trapped the wild horses with livestock fencing that has only one purpose (the private/corporate domestic livestock profiteers) and then decided to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for animal abuse (capturing of the wild horses) instead of a few thousand dollars to supplement the wild horses with some hay for a few months until the grass greens-up and keep the domestic livestock out. The BLM who is making these radical and deadly decisions is certainly up for a BIG bonus this year! (sarcasm)

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  17. USDA News Release: Assistance for farmers and ranchers affected by fires
    Farm Service Agency
    http://scc.wa.gov/usda-news-release-assistance-for-farmers-and-ranchers-affected-by-fires/
    316 W. Boone
    Spokane, WA 99201-2350
    509-323-3014
    Chris.bieker@wa.usda.gov

    Spokane /WA, Aug. 18, 2015) – Washington’s farmers and ranchers affected by this year’s devastating drought and wildfires may receive financial relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency according to FSA State Executive Director Judy Olson.

    “Many of our county offices have already taken applications for losses related to drought but now we are hearing about damage due to wildfires,” said Olson, whose agency administers federal farm programs. She encouraged farmers and ranchers to report drought and wildfire losses to local Farm Service Agency offices and to inquire about available programs.

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  19. Love, Love,Love the 50,000 horse faces IDEA described by Icy! What do some of you Think?? Is this feasible? I know each person has to jump thru-a-dozen HOOPs to be iN the crowd to see the President ; this Pope seems to be more accessible (they say). Yet I believe it’s a wonderful idea. Do you know where in PA (Pennsylvania, right? ) and When he is going to be there? (I’m afraid that i have not kept up with the news recently). However, I am 15 miles from PA; and about 45 from Pittsburgh! but I bet he will go to Philadelphia 😦 {MUCH MUCH harder to get into}. Anyway, we should really consider *doing* this, in some version…

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